US, Malaysian military join Leyte rescue efforts

US Marines and a Malaysian military medical team were set yesterday to join a major international rescue and aid operation after a landslide wiped off the map a barangay in Southern Leyte, including a school with 200 children.

A 32-member Taiwanese search and rescue team arrived yesterday to help search for survivors from the massive landslide last Friday.

Clad in orange overalls, the all-male contingent, who arrived via a China Airlines flight at around 9:30 a.m., were welcomed by Manila Economic and Cultural Office chairman Tomas Alcantara, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr., Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral, Manila International Airport Authority general manager Alfonso Cusi, and officials from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office led by Dr. Hsin-Hsing Wu, Taiwan’s chief representative in Manila.

The Taiwan SAR team brings with them high-tech equipment that will greatly help in the search and rescue efforts.

Upon arrival, the Taiwanese rescuers were whisked off to the Philippine Air Force headquarters at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

At Villamor, they boarded a helicopter to Barangay Guinsaugan in Saint Bernard town, Southern Leyte.

Escorted by Filipino soldiers, a team of armed US Marines yesterday surveyed the site of a massive landslide to see what is needed following Friday’s tragedy in Barangay Guinsaugon.

"It’s mind-boggling, it’s horrendous," said US Navy Cmdr. Manuel Biadog, a Filipino-American chaplain assigned to Marines based in Okinawa, Japan.

Security is a concern for the US Marines because the New People’s Army is active in Southern Leyte.

About 1,000 US Marines aboard the USS Essex and the USS Harper’s Ferry approached the coastline of Southern Leyte after being diverted from joint exercises with Philippine troops at Subic base in Zambales.

Three military Chinook helicopters ferried Marine commanders from the ships to the disaster site.

The assessment team headed to the wharf of coastal Saint Bernard town to see whether the ships would be able to dock there, or would have to anchor further out to sea.

The team members wore Marine caps, and traveled in a civilian bus provided by the Philippine government.

A 72-member contingent of military doctors and nurses is expected from Malaysia during the day.

Military sniffer dogs are expected later in the day to help find survivors under the sea of mud although hopes are fading of finding anyone alive.

US Marine Capt. Burrell Parmer said teams would be assessing the area to determine what help the US can give.

"We have to survey the area first to see what is needed before sending more equipment in," he said.

"We are equipped for basic humanitarian assistance but I am not certain whether we have the right equipment for digging. Our top priority now is search and rescue."

US engineers would look for a suitable landing site near the disaster area, he added.

The nearby town of Saint Bernard is being used as a staging post for relief supplies ferried in by helicopters. Aid or aid offers continued pouring in.

China offered $1 million worth of emergency relief, including $250,000 in cash. Taiwan donated $100,000 in the aftermath of the landslide.

On Saturday Chinese Consul General to Cebu Cui Luosheng traveled almost eight hours to Saint Bernard town to visit nine Chinese construction workers helping in the rescue operations.

The World Health Organization offered medical supplies and humanitarian aid yesterday while the Asian Development Bank is drawing up a relief plan.

The United Nations has released an emergency grant of $2.6 million and sent a disaster assessment and coordination team, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

A number of mountain and mining rescue teams from around the country have arrived and are helping rescuers at the site of the school.

A major problem apart from the mud is the lack of electricity. At night, rescue efforts have to be suspended.

Power lines are being extended to the site but there is no indication when they will be operational.

In Geneva, the International Red Cross appealed for $1.52 million to help fund the aid operation in Southern Leyte.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which earlier announced it had released 200,000 Swiss francs from its emergency coffers, urged donors to come forward fast.

The funds will be used to buy "cooking utensils, mosquito nets, temporary shelter materials, health and hygiene articles, water containers and purification tablets for survivors over the next six months," it said.

In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac expressed his "consternation" Saturday over the landslide which killed an estimated 1,400 people in the Philippines.

"It is with consternation that I learnt of the terrible toll," Chirac wrote in a letter to President Arroyo, according to his office.

"In these painful circumstances I want to express to you, as well as to the Philippines people, the solidarity of France and my sincere condolences," he said.

In Tokyo, Japan expressed its sympathy and announced it was "preparing for appropriate assistance."

Japan, Asia’s biggest economy, puts a priority on close relations with Southeast Asia and was a major donor after the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004.

Japan will send relief items amounting to about P11 million to the victims of the landslide in Southern Leyte, the Japanese embassy said in a statement yesterday.

These will include tents, sleeping mattresses, blankets, generators, cable codes, a water tank, water purification units, plastic canteens and plastic rolls, the statement added.

In Canberra, Australia’s government aid agency, AusAID, pledged $740,000 in immediate aid which it said would be made available to the Philippine National Red Cross and other relief agencies.

In Washington, the United States offered condolences and said it has sent two military ships to help in the coordination of disaster relief and will provide resources to help fund immediate response efforts. — Rainier Allan Ronda, Michael Punongbayan, AP, AFP